“Does she treat him like a kept man?”
Li Miaomiao put two hens into the overturned basket, then submerged the pig’s offal in salt water, planning to wash it the next morning.
She went into the kitchen, cut a piece of lean meat, washed it, minced it, then mixed it with scallions, ginger, and eggs. Fearing that Xiao Xian wouldn’t have enough to eat, she also kneaded dough and cut it into noodles to cook together.
She carried his bowl into the room, and just as she turned to leave, Xiao Xian’s cold, sharp voice sounded:
“Are you treating me like a kept man? How amusing.”
A kept man?
Li Miaomiao’s eye twitched. She turned, staring at him in confusion.
“I’m not treating you like that! We’re married, so you’re my husband. My money is yours to spend—what’s the problem?”
“I don’t need your pity.”
His voice was cold and edged with a chilling sharpness. Li Miaomiao really didn’t understand him.
Why was he so stubborn?
Always battling in secret, yet there were only two of them in the house—he could only exhaust himself.
She took a deep breath, trying to be patient.
“Xiao Xian, what exactly are you trying to compete over?”
Her words struck a nerve. He suddenly looked up, glaring at her, his peach-blossom eyes dark as an abyss.
“Leave.”
Seeing his fists clenched as if restraining himself, Li Miaomiao narrowed her eyes, her voice tinged with impatience.
“Xiao Xian, yes, I was the one who approached you first, and I’ve said I want to get along. A few days ago, you told me not to bother you, and I restrained myself.
But if you keep losing your temper at me for no reason, then I—”
She didn’t finish her sentence and immediately turned and left.
The room fell silent. Xiao Xian’s knuckles were white from clenching, and he lowered his head, a self-mocking expression crossing his features, utterly lonely.
Words left unsaid—who would care about a cripple?
Next, Li Miaomiao returned, one hand holding a bowl, the other a small stool. She set the stool down, sat, and slurped a big mouthful of noodles.
After swallowing, she turned and gave Xiao Xian a bright, teasing smile.
“You hate me, right? Well, I’ll come eat in your room every day from now on, just to annoy you.”
Though childish, she knew that dealing with Xiao Xian, who was perverse and unpredictable, required extreme measures.
Xiao Xian’s eyelid twitched, a flash of irritation rising. He listened to her deliberately amplified slurping and wanted nothing more than to throw her out.
Li Miaomiao slurped another bite. Hearing no response behind her, she turned to face him squarely while eating.
Seeing her so brazenly confront him, Xiao Xian’s temples throbbed, his fingers clutching a stone, ready to strike.
“Get out.”
His voice was icy and commanding.
Seeing the dark, dangerous glint in his eyes, Li Miaomiao didn’t back down. She slurped another mouthful, the sound exaggerated, as if she’d never eaten noodles before.
Swallowing, she suddenly laughed:
“You seem very angry? But it’s fine. You sit cooped up in your room, brooding, so a little annoyance from me won’t hurt, right?”
She continued slurping.
Xiao Xian’s gaze was locked on the top of her head, his stone slowly turning to sand in his hand.
The room was silent except for Li Miaomiao’s slurping. After finishing the last bite, she looked up and met his intense gaze, grinning.
“The noodles are really good.”
She carried the bowl and chopsticks out of the room, but a crashing sound followed behind her.
Turning, she saw Xiao Xian’s usual small stool broken into pieces, and he still held a splintered piece of wood. His deep eyes, cold and predatory, glared at her.
To think someone so delicate could break a stool barehanded!
Li Miaomiao understood that her slurping had been aggravating, and she knew he had destroyed the stool to assert dominance.
She lowered her eyes briefly, then smiled as she bent to pick up the broken wood. Her expression was clear and cheerful.
“This stool’s worn from being sat on so much—it was time for a replacement anyway.”
Her bright smile was aggravating to Xiao Xian. He teased:
“Just like replacing a person.”
Li Miaomiao fell silent. That incident had been her fault; she had wronged Xiao Xian. Knowing she was in the wrong, she cleaned up the broken wood and returned to the kitchen.
She tossed the fragments into the firewood pile, exhaled, and rubbed her cheeks.
“My jaw hurts from slurping so much.”
Thinking of Xiao Xian and the wedding day incident, she felt a surge of anger and wanted to go beat up Lin Dalang at the Lin household.
If it weren’t for that scumbag, the original Li Miaomiao wouldn’t have been forced to provoke Xiao Xian, who seemed easygoing but was actually perverse and strange.
Meanwhile, Lin Dalang kept sneezing.
Li Xiaorou had just finished washing his pig-stinking clothes and hanging them up. Entering the room and seeing him sneeze repeatedly, she felt pity.
“Lin Lang, what’s wrong with you?”
Lin Dalang covered his mouth, sneezing incessantly: “Ah-choo~ I don’t know.”
Li Xiaorou sniffed the room, covering her nose with a handkerchief, speaking with feigned concern:
“Lin Lang, ever since you met Li Miaomiao on the way home, nothing has gone smoothly. She must have passed some bad luck onto you. Tomorrow, I’ll go talk to her.”
Hearing this, Lin Dalang sneezed twice more and quickly stopped her.
“Don’t go to her for now.”
“Lin Lang, do you have feelings for her…?” Li Xiaorou asked softly, with a trace of grievance.
Lin Dalang immediately pulled her into his arms, comforting her:
“Don’t overthink it. How could I ever fancy that ugly, poisonous woman?”
“Then why did you tell me not to go to her?”
Hearing Lin Dalang scold Li Miaomiao, Li Xiaorou’s heart leapt with joy, while outwardly she kept a composed, understanding expression.
Seeing her obedient, Lin Dalang wanted to tell her everything but recalled Guo Ce’s warning not to let others know. He held her tightly, comforting her:
“That ugly woman cut Fat Aunt’s tree last time. I was worried about you—concerned you’d get hurt if you went alone.”
Hearing that Lin Dalang had thought of her safety, Li Xiaorou wished she could boast to Li Miaomiao directly.
“Lin Lang, you really care about me.”
Holding the petite, adorable girl in his arms, Lin Dalang said proudly:
“Xiaorou, soon I’ll take you to live in the city.”
“The city?”
Li Xiaorou looked up, astonished, tears in her eyes.
“Lin Lang, my sister often said how powerful her mother’s family was in the city, while I had only a fat mother. She had everything, I had nothing.”
Seeing her frail, pitiful expression, Lin Dalang’s heart softened.
“Xiaorou, don’t worry. Li Miaomiao is destined to live her life only with that cripple Xiao Xian. Whatever she has or doesn’t have, I’ll make sure you have it in the future.”
His words moved Li Xiaorou to tears of joy.
Inwardly, she thought: everything good that Li Miaomiao has, I’ll take it for myself.